Plant Closure and Marital Dissolution
Mari Rege, Kjetil Telle and Mark Votruba
Abstract:
We estimate the effect of plant closure on divorce using a panel data set comprising more than 80,000 married couples in Norway. Plant closure substantially increases the likelihood of marital dissolution of workers in affected plants. The marriages of husbands originally employed in plants that closed between 1995 and 2000 were 11 percent more likely to be dissolved by 2003 than comparable marriages of husbands in stable plants. Additional analyses suggest that the effect of plant closure on divorce is not due to unexpected reduction in earnings. The results are, however, consistent with role theories, in which the husband’s attractiveness declines if he fails to fulfil a traditional role as a breadwinner.
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Parental Job Loss and Children’s School Performance
Mari Rege, Kjetil Telle and Mark Votruba
Abstract:
Using Norwegian register data we estimate how children’s school performance is affected by their parents’ exposure to plant closure. Fathers’ exposure leads to a substantial decline in children’s graduation-year grade point average, but only in municipalities with mediocre-performing job markets. The negative effect does not appear to be driven by a reduction in father’s income and employment, an increase in parental divorce, or the trauma of relocating. In contrast, mothers’ exposure leads to improved school performance. Our findings appear to be consistent with sociological “role theories,” with parents unable to fully shield their children from the stress caused by threats to the father’s traditional role as breadwinner, and mothers responding to job loss by allocating greater attention towards child rearing.
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